Tweedsmuir learning how to be No. 1 with bull’s-eye
The Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers are No. 1 and they’re also the lone one.
The Panthers, the top-ranked team in triple-A football all season, are the only team to advance to this weekend’s Subway Bowl provincial quarter-finals that has not won the B.C. crown at that level.
One could argue expectations and experience are not exactly equal.
“I think one of the most dangerous things to have is a No. 1 ranking,” said Panthers coach Kurt Thornton, whose team takes on the reigning provincial champion New Westminster Hyacks Saturday at 5 p.m. at B.C. Place as part of the final eight showdown.
“You always run a risk of over confidence and sometimes a little entitlement. You have to balance that. That’s one of the messages we’ve been trying to send home all season long — you’re not entitled to anything.
“You have a target on your chest and everyone wants to beat you. You also never get the satisfaction of an upset win. You’re doing what you’re supposed to do when you’re winning games. And that’s tough because we’ve never been in the top position in triple-A before.”
Note that clarification at the end. That’s where things get even more intriguing.
Lord Tweedsmuir has won the triple-A junior varsity provincial title the last two seasons. Their Grade 12s were part of a squad that defeated the Mount Douglas Rams 17-14 for that B.C. banner two seasons ago. Their Grade 11s helped the Panthers upend the Vancouver College Fighting Irish 23-13 for the title last December.
Lord Tweedsmuir doesn’t have to look far to see that can be a good omen. The Hyacks won the tripleA junior varsity championship in 2015 and had members of that squad play a role in last December’s 15-14 last-second win over the Terry Fox Ravens for the senior crown.
It’s a good storyline for what should be a hotly contested final few weeks of the high school football season: can Lord Tweedsmuir get its junior success to translate to senior at the most important time of the season?
Thornton was quick to insist there’s little to pick between the final eight squads, saying “every team has playmakers.” That’s in line with the pre-season rankings at Howard Tsumura’s varsityletters.ca, which featured Lord Tweedsmuir edging out the twotime reigning finalist Ravens by a single point and each of the top five
teams receiving at least one firstplace vote.
The Hyacks were the No. 3 team in the pre-season, but they finished fourth in the Western Conference with a 4-3 mark. They lost two games by six points or less and went three games minus starting quarterback/linebacker Kinsale Philip due to a broken foot. He is back now.
“They could have easily won that conference,” Thornton said.
Lord Tweedsmuir did take top spot in the Eastern Conference
with a 7-0 mark and they pitched three straight shutouts to finish league play.
It’s fair to suggest any sort of success over the next few weeks would be a further boost to the program.
“I learned that you can’t be cocky when it comes to this kind of stuff,” Grade 12 offensive lineman Noah Bedard said when asked what he got out of the championship run two years ago. “Once you get cocky, it becomes a mindset and it’s not a winning mindset.”
SUNDAY, NOV. 18 BASKETBALL: NBA, Los Angeles Lakers at Miami Heat, 3 p.m. SNOne; Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs, 4 p.m. TSN2; NCAA, Vancouver Showcase, semifinal, Texas A&M vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m. TSN2. FOOTBALL: CFL playoffs, East Division Final, Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ottawa Redblacks, 10 a.m. TSN1, TSN4, TSN5; West Division Final, Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Calgary Stampeders, 1:30 p.m. TSN1, TSN4, TSN5; NFL, Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons, 10 a.m. FOX; Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m. CBS; Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears, 5:15 p.m. TSN4, TSN1, TSN3, TSN5, 5:20 p.m. CTV2, NBC.
GOLF: LPGA, Tour Championship, Final Round, 10 a.m. ABC; PGA, The RSM Classic, Final Round, 10:30 a.m. GOLF.
HOCKEY: NHL, Dallas Stars vs. New York Islanders, 10 a.m. SNP, SNO, SNE, SNW; Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks, 3 p.m. WGN; Vegas Golden Knights at Edmonton Oilers, 5 p.m. SNP, SNO, SNE, SNW.
MOTOR SPORTS: NASCAR, Auto Racing, Ford EcoBoost 400, Monster Energy Cup Series, Noon NBC, TSN3. RUGBY: RFU, English Premiership, Exeter Chiefs vs. Bristol, 7 a.m. SNWORLD.
TENNIS: ATP, Nitto Finals, Final, 10 a.m. TSN2.